EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says the agency plans to re-evaluate the safety of the herbicide paraquat, which is the subject of several lawsuits alleging that it causes Parkinson’s disease.
In a recent post on X, Zeldin said his agency’s goals were aligned with that of the Make American Healthy Again movement, which has been highly critical of herbicides used in the country’s food system.
Zeldin said, “any pesticide on the market used to eliminate weeds, germs, diseases, or bugs must meet the HIGHEST standards of safety, grounded in the best available gold standard science."
"EPA is requiring paraquat manufacturers to thoroughly prove that current uses are safe in real world conditions. If they cannot meet that standard, decisive action will certainly follow.
Agri-Pulse reported that in November, the agency asked manufacturers for additional data on the product after a new vapor pressure study showed "there is greater uncertainty regarding the potential for paraquat to volatilize than previously considered."
The EPA in 2024 rejected the association between paraquat exposure and Parkinson's, although nearly 6,500 pending cases are included in a multi-district case that alleges a connection, Agri-Pulse reported.
However, Syngenta said in a statement that the company, "rejects the claims of a causal link between paraquat and Parkinson's disease because it is not supported by scientific evidence.
“Despite decades of investigation and more than 1,200 epidemiological and laboratory studies of paraquat, no scientist or doctor has ever concluded in a peer-reviewed scientific analysis that paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease. Our view is endorsed in science-based reviews by regulatory authorities, such as in the U.S., Australia and Japan.
California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) published a preliminary scientific report in 2024, “Potential Human Health Outcomes Resulting from Paraquat Exposure, but Syngenta said DPR's review of existing human health studies does not indicate a causal association between paraquat exposure and Parkinson's disease.
The same year, Dr. Douglas Weed, a physician and epidemiologist with over 25 years of experience in epidemiological research with no ties to Syngenta, the company said, published an updated meta-analysis that reaffirmed “no compelling scientific argument for claiming that an association exists much less a causal association” between paraquat and Parkinson’s disease.
According to No-Till Farmer’s annual Benchmark Survey, only a small percentage of no-tillers use paraquat, mostly to terminate cover crops. But if the widely-used herbicide glyphosate were to be banned in the U.S., it’s possible paraquat could see an uptick in usage to manage cover crops.
